Record at a Glance
- Clemency type
- Pardon
- Presidential term
- 2017–2021
- Federal district
- Northern District of New York
- Offense
- Illegal voting
- Sentence
- $100 fine and the cost of prosecution (June 18, 1873)
- Current status
- Deceased March 13, 1906; pardon granted posthumously.
Original Case
Anthony was prosecuted under the Enforcement Act of 1870 for voting without a lawful right in a congressional election held with the November 5, 1872 presidential election in Rochester. She was found guilty on June 18, 1873 after the judge directed a guilty verdict; the Federal Judicial Center records the $100 fine plus prosecution costs as imposed the next day, June 19. She refused to pay and was not imprisoned. DOJ's pardon index lists June 18 as the sentencing date, while the National Archives labels a separate conviction-record artifact June 28; those institutional record dates are preserved as a documented discrepancy rather than treated as interchangeable.
Clemency
Trump issued a full posthumous pardon on August 18, 2020, commemorating the centennial of ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. The pardon is an executive act; it does not remove the original documents from the historical record.
Trump Connection
Anthony died in 1906 and had no personal or political relationship with Trump. Trump announced the posthumous pardon at a White House event marking the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, describing her prosecution as unjust. The action was symbolic and historical: Anthony herself had rejected the legitimacy of the directed verdict and refused to pay the fine.
Since Clemency
2020-08-18 · historical legacy
The National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House objected to the pardon, arguing that it risked validating the proceedings Anthony had rejected. This is the museum’s position, not a judicial decision cancelling clemency.
Legal Status: Institutional response to a posthumous pardon; no new criminal proceeding.
- Development Source
Museum statement responding to pardonNational Susan B. Anthony Museum & House
- Development Source
Sources
- Primary Documentation
DOJ: Pardons Granted by President Donald J. Trump (2017–2021)U.S. Department of Justice2026-09-24 - Primary Documentation
DOJ clemency document: Susan B. AnthonyU.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Pardon Attorney2026-09-24 active - Primary Documentation
Susan B. Anthony criminal recordsNational Archives - Primary Documentation
Pardon announcement, August 18, 2020Archived White House - Primary Documentation
Susan B. Anthony biographyNational Park Service - Primary Documentation
The Trial of Susan B. AnthonyFederal Judicial Center